Bearish Bets Soar on Biggest Junk ETF as Rate Hedges Reloaded

  • HYG sees third-biggest daily put volume since pandemic’s onset
  • ETF is an inexpensive way to hedge Fed’s impact: McElligott
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Investors are bracing for more pain for the largest junk-bond ETF, piling into bearish wagers on the heels of the fund’s bestBloomberg Terminal weekly rally since April 2020.

Nearly 994,000 put contracts on the $14.3 billion iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (ticker HYG) traded Wednesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the third-biggest daily volume since March 2020 and more than double HYG’s 20-day average for puts.